LaNova enters oncology’s hottest licensing territory
Another company just jumped onto the PD-(L)1 x VEGF bandwagon: LaNova Medicines on Friday revealed the start of a phase 1 solid tumour study in China of LM-299, a bispecific MAb against PD-1 and VEGF. Existence of this molecule hadn’t been widely known before, and the phase 1 study has no entry yet on the clinicaltrials.gov registry. LaNova is better known as the developer of projects against other in-vogue targets, including CCR8 with the MAb LM-108; its anti-GPRC5D ADC LM-305 was licensed to AstraZeneca last year. As if there was any doubt about LaNova dressing up LM-299 as a hot licensing opportunity, the company’s website points out that global rights to the molecule are “available”. Presumably this is LaNova’s attempt to follow in the footsteps of its Chinese counterparts Akeso, Biotheus and ImmuneOnco, each of which has succeeded in licensing out PD-(L)1 x VEGF bispecifics, to Summit, BioNTech and Instil Bio respectively. A separate MAb with this mechanism, OncoC4’s AI-081, is about to enter phase 1; LaNova says it plans to file a US IND for LM-299 by the end of this year.
Selected anti-PD-(L)1 x VEGF bispecifics available for US licensing
| Project | Targets | Originator | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSGJ-707 | VEGF x PD-1 | 3SBio | Ph2 in gynaecological cancers |
| SCTB14 | VEGF x PD-1 | Sinocelltech | Ph1/2 solid tumour study |
| AI-081 | VEGF x PD-1 | OncoC4 | Ph1/2 solid tumour study starts Dec 2024 |
| JS207 | VEGF-A x PD-1 | Shnaghai Junshi | Ph1 solid tumour study |
| B1962 | VEGF x PD-L1 | AP Biosciences (OBI Pharma) | Ph1 solid tumour study |
| SG1408 | VEGF x PD-L1 | Hangzhou Sumgen Biotech | Ph1 solid tumour study (CTR20222623) began in Nov 2022 |
| LM-299 | VEGF x PD-1 | LaNova Medicines | Ph1 solid tumour study just starting |
Source: OncologyPipeline.
